2012 has been a year full of exciting events, announcements and discoveries across the globe. Top stories included the U.S. Presidential Election, the Summer Olympics in London, the Facebook IPO and the identification of a rare gene mutation that protects against Alzheimer’s, a hopeful discovery.

As 2012 draws to a close, we at Home Care Assistance are also taking time to reflect on our achievements in the past twelve months and how these milestones impact our clients, our caregivers and our communities. Read on for our Top 10 Achievements of 2012.

Home Care Assistance employed 4000 caregivers across 33 U.S. states and Canada, adding 1000 jobs during a downturn in employment.

We opened new Home Care Assistance offices throughout North America and expanded our nationwide care team to provide more families with the support and resources they need to live well at home.

We unveiled Home Care Assistance University (HCAU), a unique online learning platform that gives our caregivers access to the training and expertise they need to provide the gold standard of care. Courses ranging from Alzheimer’s Care to Culinary Skills complement our caregivers’ extensive experience to offer our clients the highest level of service and professionalism. Our University helps us attract and retain the highest caliber caregivers and is another reason why thousands of families and health professionals choose Home Care Assistance.

We expanded our award-winning book series with The Five Senses, a book that provides a detailed overview of the changes we experience in our senses as we age and practical guidance on managing this evolution for improved quality of life. Armed with this knowledge, older adults can maintain independence and live comfortably in their own homes as they age. The next book in the series, focused on dementia care and co-authored by a renowned neuropsychologist, will be released on January 14th.

We produced a well-received series of educational public webinars in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic, Stanford School of Medicine, and American Society on Aging. Our next free public webinar will be onThursday, January 24th at 11 AM Pacific, 2 PM Eastern, and is presented by world renowned Alzheimer’s expert and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Gary Small. Space is limited, so reserve your seat now!

We garnered extensive praise and awards for our innovative services, including recognition in the prestigious Inc. 5000 and feature stories in Entrepreneur Magazine and Forbes, as well as a dedicated column in The Huffington Post.

Most important of all, we inspired our caregivers, clients and partners to join us in our mission to change the way the world ages.

We expect 2013 to be another milestone year for Home Care Assistance and look forward to sharing it with you. As we continue to progress in our mission to change the way the world ages, we encourage you to provide us with feedback and to ask questions about our services, caregivers and new programs.

On behalf of everyone at Home Care Assistance, we hope you have a safe and happy new year!